Biomass, particularly biomass waste, is abundantly available. It would be useful to derive materials and fuel, such as ethanol, from biomass.
There is presently interest in producing biofuels from a wide variety of feedstocks, in order to provide suitable replacements for fossil fuels. The production of biofuels is desirable because the biosphere is presently overburdened by carbon emissions produced from fossil fuels. The burning of fuels presently contributes to an annual release of 4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the injection of 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the world's oceans. By using biomass (an efficient CO2 sequestrator) as the source of fuel, the energy and transportation industries can reduce the release of additional carbon emissions by the mining and refining of fossil fuels.